Jimmy Bissett was a man with a vision: He wanted to build the first large-scale aquarium on Long Island.
And because of his determination to see this dream through, the Long Island Aquarium opened 15 years ago this month on East Main Street, drawing more than a million people to Riverhead since its opening with its variety of educational and interactive exhibits.
“Jimmy was a visionary,” Bryan DeLuca, executive director of the aquarium, said of his late friend in a memorial ceremony outside the aquarium this morning. “He always felt that we were on an island surrounded by water – we needed an aquarium.”
Bissett’s death in 2011 rocked the Riverhead community. But his hard work and generosity have made a lasting impact on the town, measured not only by the extraordinary success of his operation but also by the outpouring of love and support by his friends, family and colleagues who gathered today to dedicate the fountain outside the aquarium in his memory.
The outdoor fountain of a leaping whale has always greeted visitors as they enter the aquarium from Main Street, and now that fountain is emblazoned with Bissett’s name. Words carved along the fountain’s outer ring were chosen by family and friends because they represent Bissett and everything he stood for: Devoted. Fearless. Genuine. Humble. Inspirational.
Missed.
“If I could be anything like my father, that would be amazing,” said Bissett’s son, James Bissett IV, at the memorial dedication this morning. “This fountain will be here forever with our memories and thoughts of him on it, so that we can be reminded of them every day.”
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